Rose Pak: “Of course everything in this town is political”

Rose Pak, one of the most politically powerful women in San Francisco, wants you to know this: she’s not a lobbyist, powerbroker or kingmaker.

“It’s not true,” said Pak, a consultant at the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce who considers herself a community advocate.

And while dismissing the “kingmaker” or “powerbroker” labels, Pak, in the same interview on KQED’s “Forum” program Thursday, also took a chunk of credit for convincing interim Mayor Ed Lee to break his promise to serve as a one-year caretaker and instead run for a full term, which he won.

Oh, and those famous feuds she’s had over the years with people like former Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and state Sen. Leland Yee?

“It’s not feuding,” Pak said during the wide-ranging interview. “It’s disagreement.”

Pak described it as “so unfair to both the community and Mayor Lee as well” to say she and Chronicle columnist and former Mayor Willie Brown orchestrated Lee’s decision to stay in power after being appointed mayor for a year.

Then she explained it like this: “I happen to know the city fairly well. And I happen to know if Ed Lee did not seize that opportunity, it might be years or decades before we have such an opportune time to have a Chinese American get there. He was already there, so it was just one step further.”

“Of course everything is political in this town,” Pak said. “I would be remiss if I saw this opportunity and did not seize it and try to convince Ed Lee to run for mayor.”

At the time Lee jumped into the race in August 2011, though, he was already the city’s first Chinese American mayor, having been appointed seven months earlier to serve the final year of Gavin Newsom’s term after Newsom was elected lieutenant governor. There were also other candidates of Chinese descent already running near the top of the crowded field, including Yee and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu.

Before Lee jumped in, several pundits saw the race shaping into a battle between Yee and City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with some saying Chiu might be positioned to surge ahead late under the city’s ranked-choice voting system if the two frontrunners beat each other up.

Later in the “Forum” interview, Pak gave a hint that her motivation might not have been just about seeing a Chinese American elected mayor.

“I think Ed Lee is a more viable and more capable candidate than Leland Yee,” Pak said, adding she thought Yee wasn’t of mayoral “quality.”

“I wouldn’t elect him myself, but I respect (that) other people voted for him,” Pak said. “That is the reality.”

In her trademark way, Pak downplayed her influence or effectiveness, saying she didn’t think she was smarter than others, only hard working, stubborn and persistent. She also dismissed any suggestion that she used her political influence for personal gain.

“I never do things for my personal friends or my family or any of those type of things,” Pak said.